As of today, I have lost about 50lbs. I have been up to the 60lbs mark, but continue to ping pong. If you look at my weight loss chart below, you will see a very interesting fact that has slapped me in the face. Last July 14th (2012) I weighed in at 318.6. That is basically what I weighed in at on Feb 2nd (2013) a few weeks ago. The bottom line is that I have not really moved much as far as weight for 7 months!
So I have been doing some major research and reading, to figure out what is going on. Am I over-eating? Am I not working out enough? Am I not being consistent? Am I eating the wrong stuff? Am I doing the wrong exercise?
Something that I discovered recently that I posted on my blog is that the body seems to like things to be mixed up. I have mixed it up a little as far as exercise, but this weekend I have gone into total analyzation mode, and have re-looked at absolutely everything I am doing.
Here is what I am going to change...and I have already started changing it up as of this morning.
I think my primary workouts cannot come from a stationary bike. I have been trying to get my mileage in on a stationary bike, but the time on the stationary bike is not as effective as time doing a whole different exercise standing up.
I remember that 3 years ago when I began the battle of trying to do something different, that I was getting up at 5am in the morning, and walking. And the pounds were coming off. So how can I lose more weight walking, than on a stationary bike?
Also, I have been drinking at least 1-2 cups of soy milk every day...and I usually have a bowl of cereal in the morning. Most of the time it's multi-grain cheerios, or frosted mini wheats.
I have thought that I am burning this cereal off having done a good workout within the previous hour.
Well, I am going to cut out the cereal, and the soy milk. One of the things that I have wanted to do is stick closer to primal eating. The cereal has only been 50-75g of carbs each day. However, it really is processed food...as is soy milk. I noticed that there is cane sugar in the soy milk I drink as sweetener. It is better than regular milk, but I have wondered if changing out the soy milk could help?
As far as my exercise in the gym this morning. I stayed away from the stationary bike. Today I spent about 30 minutes on the treadmill doing intervals. I put the treadmill at a 15% incline, and then walked very fast a 3.3 mph for 10 seconds, and then rested for 10 seconds. My heart rate got up to 150bps. That is good.
So perhaps I will focus on intervals and weight training at the gym in the morning, and ride my bike to and from work, and then do spin biking for an hour in the evening.
As far as eating, I am going to try something different for the next month and see what happens. I will still record what I am eating, but I am going to not be trying to shoot for a goal of so many calories each day, I am going to not worry about calories, and focus on eating 3 food groups:
1-Protein (chicken, fish, grass fed beef)
2-Legumes (black, white and pinto beans)
3-Veggies (mixed veggies of all sorts)
I will continue to not eat any bread. And I will cut out all white rice, potatoes, etc.
I will continue to eat 4-5 smaller meals a day, although I am eating to satisfaction, and not for portion size.
This sounds a little drastic, but the principle of what I am doing is that I am eating everything that the "caveman" ate. Also, I'm going to focus on eating veggies, and cut out fruit for the time being. And when I eat my veggies, I am not going to cook them, it's going to be raw!
For now, this is not a long term commitment, it is a test to see how my body will react. I want to see how I feel, and see what happens to my weight loss.
As I reviewed what I was doing last July (2012), that is when I was putting in 100 miles a week in cycling. That is what I want to be doing once I can get out in the warmer weather. To me warmer weather is 35 degrees. This morning it was 19 degrees...geee...come on now! Of course this has to be one of the coldest winters I've ever experienced. All I ask is for something in the 30s and I will be out riding!
I might add, that I have not been keeping track of how much body fat I am losing and muscle I am gaining, but I am sure that despite keeping the same weight for 7 months, that I have built muscle. I know that inches have come off too. So even if the weight seems to be the same, I am in a different state of health...and it's obviously a more positive state.
Well, so here goes the science experiment to see how my body reacts to totally changing things up.
Today I weighed in a 315lbs. I am 105 pounds away from where I need to be in August. I realistically don't think that I will hit 210 by June. That's the reality of it. I'd have to lose 30lbs a month. However, by the time I ride to Fuji, which is at the end of August, I have about 6 months. There is some definite change that can be made by then.
One thing is for sure, I cannot eat and exercise the way I have been for the past 7 months.
Happy Presidents Day!
Did you know George Washington rode a Jamis Bike? He did!
Don
 |
| I've basically been playing ping pong for the past 7 months. |
 |
| This morning's breakfast...my new approach. |
Don,
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to see you ditching the cereals. However,I have read that Legumes are not considered Paleo. They are neolithic foods just like grains and dairy. Here is some of what Mark Sisson wrote in the "Primal Blueprint" (pg. 158) about legumes:
"While legumes offer a good source of protein, fiber, potassium, and antioxidants, they also provide significant levels of carbohydrates and increase the overall insulin load of your diet. Furthermore, legumes contain those pesky antinutrients lectins."
Also he follows with: "However, emphasizing legumes in your diet is an inferior strategy to having vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, and animal foods as your primary meal and snack choices."
Losing weight is all about minimizing insulin levels. Another quote from the "Primal Blueprint" (pg. 66):
"It's as simple as this: if you have excess body fat, it's directly reflective of the amount of insulin you produce from your diet combined with your familial genetic predisposition to store fat."
So, you want to minimize your insulin levels with a proper diet. Combine that with exercise which makes you more insulin sensitive is a very good strategy.
I want to see you go to Japan and climb that mountain. (I really should mind my own business, but I would really like to help). I can see why you would be eating legumes instead of meat if you are a vegan, otherwise eat more meat and fat, ditch the carbs, minimize your insulin, and burn and lose the body fat. If you exercise a lot eat some sweet potatoes and lower carb fruit on workout days. If you are worried about cholesterol etc., have it measured before starting the diet and see what happens. Low carb almost always shows an improvement. Good breakfast is meat and eggs and you won't want more food before lunch, if then.
I guess you could summarize my advice (which I know you did not ask for) as "go low-carb Paleo". Fat in your diet is a good thing (except omega 6 vegetable oils). Shake things up for sure and give lower-carb Paleo a try.
I checked out your other website - I particularly enjoyed the videos. I too got my pants caught in my chainring twice. Got stopped and couldn't get my leg lose so I just fell over with my bike both times. I have a Raleigh mountain bike.
I watched a few videos today on LCHF and Paleo, and am really liking what I hear...It's basically what I have beleived in all along, I just am needing to tweak a bit more. One big "AHA" I had was that I shouldn't really be eating fruits the way I have. I have been eating a lot of fruit. I now understand that the natural sugar in fruit can be just as potent as any other sugar. So I will have a little here and there.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I am looking at 3 different ways of eating, and I didn't know that beans will not work in my favor. I think I need to go and buy Primal Blueprint and really lock in on that type of eating.
Thanks for the heads up on beans. I am getting more and more educated each day.
Don
Zoe Harcombe (zoeharcombe.com) posted today, feb. 19. 2013, a very educational paper written by Stephanie Seneff, a researcher from MIT, that everyone should read about the cause of the obesity epidemic. Lots of good information in there you can use to improve your health while implementing your weight loss strategy.
DeleteThe paper is on Zoe's blog at www.zoeharcombe.com/blog
DeleteMark Sisson makes it a point to explain that carbohydrate consumption depends upon how much exercise you are doing. If you are like me and don't do much but walk and lift a few not very heavy weights, you don't need many carbs. I like a diet of 50 or so daily. If you exercise like you do, you will need more unless you go full ketogenic as per Drs. Phinney and Volek (and others)and just burn mostly fat. How many carbs you need or can tolerate is something you need to figure out. Some in the Paleo community think that eating lots of taters is okay or even encouraged, but for those with metabolic syndrome or for those who want to lose weight , I advise caution on that front.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to you progress.
I quit carbs Dec 31st and have lost 27 lbs. Now mind you every 2-3 weeks or so I have a "cheat" meal with them included to remind my body that I am not dieting, even though I am. One thing about the high protein is I am more focused, my energy has skyrocketed, and I don't feel like a zombie. If I am going to have carbs, they are going to be in the am. period. Also I learned to jumpstart my metabolism first hing. I hate breakfast, so I wake up, have a cup of coffee(powdered creamer 10 cal) and a protein shake (less than 3 grams of sugar 110 calories. Then I eat every 2-3 hours. I get to work have cottage cheese, then in a few hours more protein shake or cheese, then lunch a big big salad with dressing ..3g of sugar or less on the side, with protein like chicken...dinner is 6 oz lean protein and broccoli or some veggie. snakes sugar free jello with whipped topping (25 calories)..string cheese (50 calories)...for me the key is eating often so I'm not stuffing my face later...I dunno thought I would put in my two cents.
ReplyDeleteThanks Determination. I looked at your blog the other day...congrats on your successes!
DeleteYes, cutting sugar is the key. A bowl of cereal and lots of fruit, seems to be the culprit. So I doing some experimenting with this new eating. It seems right in harmony with what you're doing...but perhaps a little more Paleo.
Thanks for checking in!
Don